


Why Don't We Collide

by PerditusFic



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Domestic Fluff, F/F, F/M, Family Feels, Fluff and Angst, Realm Hopping, Slow Burn, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-11
Updated: 2020-02-28
Packaged: 2020-04-24 18:06:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 19,709
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19178614
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PerditusFic/pseuds/PerditusFic
Summary: It had been a year since Robin left, a year since Gold was banished and Storybrooke was peaceful - Regina even had time to have lunch every day with Emma. But she knew - everyone knew - it was too good to last. So, when she least expected it, secrets from Regina's past come back to haunt her again. And she finds a little more family than she started with.Or damn Cora for fucking Regina over one last time.





	1. Chapter 1

**I.**

 

A slow dripping sound cued her pull from unconsciousness.

It was steady and rhythmic, blending with the sounds of a monitor beeping at an even slower pace. It would've been soothing if waking in a strange place hadn't been so jarring. But it was just calm enough to keep her grounded to the room. Grounded – and not in the dark place.

The P.A. let out a wave of static with an announcement for a moment before it went silent again. Though it was very muted to her ears, she heard the mention of an operating room and name that made a hasty escape from her mind.

So, a hospital.

After that conclusion had slowly come, there was a distinct smell that managed to make itself very familiar to the foggy forefront of her mind. It was sterile. Cold. Possibly disinfectant or anti-bacterial. The smell, however, reminded her more of the morgue than anything else. Like death was around. Just waiting.

Death; the word came very clearly to her mind.

Her heavy eyelids snapped open and bright, blurry hazel meeting a white ceiling. It was fuzzy around the corners of her eyes but clear enough to make out things. The room was clean and gloomy. A firm hospital bed was under her body. The walls were pale yellow, and the linens were gray and thin. It didn't seem to inspire much confidence for a patient getting better. Maybe she wasn't expected to get better.

With that thought, she was immediately alarmed by the tingling of her lips and tongue. Her fingertips and toes buzzed unpleasantly. Everything felt like being underwater. Inaudible and unclear. But also like breaking the surface of the water, everything came back all at once and very abruptly.

In a panic, she forced her body up from the hospital bed, taking in a big breath that felt like it had been ages since the last. A shaky hand reached up to rip the nasal cannula from her face.

She looked down at her hands, finding a black brace on her left. She felt the thin needle attached to her right. She pulled on the IV and bent forward at the sharp pain that vibrated through her arm. Her eyes turned to the heart rate monitor that started to beep erratically.

A scream startled her, and she looked to a nurse who was wide-eyed and shocked. She dropped her hand away from the lines coming out of her arm and looked around again. There was an empty bed on the other side of the room.

Her hand went to the IV line and then to the foam electrodes stuck to her temples. She pulled them off and jerked away from the ones attached to her chest under the hospital gown.

There was this sudden urge to escape. A strong need to rid of these machines and to be away from this place overwhelmed her.

This place she didn't know.

This place was not home.

"Oh my god," the nurse said, knocking over a metal tray. She pressed herself against the cabinets, sliding along them until she sprinted out the door. "Dr. Whale!"

* * *

Storybrooke's only '75 Camaro – cherry red and too fast – sped down Main Street, booking it away from Granny's diner. The authority in town was probably laughing over a lunch that had started without her and damn Granny for threatening hell if their new delivery service wasn't quick and efficient the moment she came up with the idea.

Ruby's phone rung again, and she sighed. She picked it up and jammed her thumb into the screen to answer.

"Yes, Regina?" She asked, faking a sweet tone – one Regina would see right through and roast her for it.

"You're late, dear."

"Hm? Oh, really? I had no clue. Definitely my bad," Ruby said.

"Cut the attitude, Rubes," Emma said from the background. "I'm taking your chips, by the way."

"Asshole-"

Just in time, she glanced back to the road ahead from the rearview and slammed on brakes at the figure stumbling into the middle of the road. There was enough smoke from her abused tires to consume all of 1st Street as the car skidded to a stop. "Whoa!"

"Ruby?" Regina's concerned voice became distant in her ear as her phone tumbled from being pressed against her cheek and shoulder. It landed with a clatter under the gas pedal, but she barely noticed it at all.

Instinctively, she put the car in park but left the engine running as she got. From the shock and adrenaline pumping through her, she momentarily felt not except a surge of anger at the person steadily becoming clear through the tire smoke.

"Hey! What the hell are you doing?" Ruby raged stalking forward. "I could've run you over!"

Once again, she had to stop in her tracks, when it became immediately apparent that it wasn't the typical Storybrooke crazy. Not Leroy on a drunken bender, singing Taylor Swift songs. Not the remaining Merry Men finding a reason to be vigilantes from time to time – but Emma had mostly scared them out of that. But this was undoubtedly one of those Emma type problems.

She was a kid. A teenager, based on height alone, dressed in a hospital gown took her off her rant immediately. There was a magical glow coming from her right hand, while her left arm stayed secured in a black splint. She looked lost which Ruby would expect nothing less if you'd ran out of the hospital, through the hospital parking lot, and onto the road – and nearly hit by a car. However, it was a little odd, said teenager didn't seem to realize she had almost gotten run over. Her eyes were darting everywhere but Ruby and her car.

"Hey," Ruby said, attempting to get closer. The girl's eye snapped to her, but she squinted like she was trying to make Ruby out. "Are you okay?"

A glowing hand raised towards her in defense. Ruby raised her hands in surrender to show she wasn't a threat.

"It's okay. You're fine. I want to help." She took one step forward. "Can I do that?"

The teen shook her head.

"I need to get you back in there," Ruby said, pointing to Storybrooke Medical. "You're injured. How can I help?"

She shook her head again, but the glow from her hand dimmed even as Ruby continued to move closer and closer. It was clear whatever energy her body had summoned was waning.

"I get it. I do. Every full moon, I wake up scared and lost. In woods." Ruby was close now, keeping firm control over her wolf - only letting her eyes shift from brown to red. Close enough to reach out and place a hand on her but also close enough to end up with a hole in her chest if the magic was malicious enough. "But I have someone to help me come back. It's only fair I pass on the kindness, right?"

The hand fell limp at the girl's side as Ruby tentatively reached out and gently rested a hand on her shoulder. The girl took a big breath, and Ruby became very clear in her vision. It didn't feel so much like drowning now. She looked into Ruby's eyes, and they both stared at each other for a moment. They both watched each other's eyes flash a bright gold.

Unknowing of the occurrence in herself, Ruby relaxed her hand and cupped the nape of her neck to keep her calm. The gentle ministrations of her thumb against a vein seemed to lull her drastically.

"See? You're safe. I'll bring you back," Ruby said.

The girl swayed lightly and then blacked out completely, Ruby catching her before she fell. She glanced at the unconscious young woman and then sighed. She turned to the small, curious crowd they'd amass – surprised she didn't notice them – and gave an exasperated look to the few hospital staff amongst them.

_Useless_ , she thought.

"A little help would be nice," Ruby said with annoyance as she was still cradling an injured, unconscious girl in her arms. But finally, they scrambled into action.

* * *

Ruby paced in front of the nurses' station, ignoring that she was on the receiving end of a deathly glare from one of the nurses present. Although, it was possible she'd only settled for a glare out of pity since Ruby seemed worried.

She'd texted Regina that everything with her was fine, but she and Emma should head over as soon as they could.

After having spent only twenty minutes in the waiting room, the space behind her ignited in purple smoke behind her. She turned around as Regina and Emma appeared. The sheriff removed the last of her sandwich from between her teeth.

"So, I missed lunch?" Ruby chuckled.

"What happened?" Regina questioned. "We thought something happened to you. Your text was vague."

"Emma doesn't look too concerned."

"I was having lunch. Regina refuses to give me a three-count before she poofs us places." Emma muttered, trashing the remaining half of her sandwich. "Food doesn't travel well. So, you're not dead…"

Regina elbowed her and looked at Ruby expectantly.

"I was driving, and a kid ran out into the road."

"Did you hit 'em?" Emma frowned.

"No! She's a comatose patient." Ruby received two odd looks from the women in front of her, and she shrugged. "They wouldn't give me details. They're not a liberty to disclose it with me, but I do know that she had magic. The only explanation for why she managed to get into the road in the first place. Seemed right up your alley."

Before either woman could get a word out, Whale burst through the doors with a woman hot on his heels. They stopped just short of the trio.

"Oh, good. You're already here," Whale said, looking to Regina.

"Me?" Regina questioned. She clasped her hands together, already anticipating that it was going to be a long day. "Why do you need me?"

Whale gestured to the double doors, and she followed skeptically behind the pair of doctors. She glanced back to Emma and Ruby, who only shrugged in response.

She followed them through the ICU with a severe look on her face. She wouldn't have known who this child was, and it was even less likely to be so when she had no information.

"Dr. Whale?" Regina questioned.

"She's very jumpy, as Miss Lucas might have mentioned," Whale said.

"Very vaguely," Regina said.

"We can't get her to calm down now."

"Well, Ruby managed just fine. It seems your staff is just as incompetent as you."

Whale paused and turned on his heel, ready to fire back. A hand on his arm stopped him from getting a word out. The woman beside him took the clipboard and took a step away from him.

"Maybe it's best if I take point on this one," the woman said.

"You can have the patient. I have better things to do anyway," Whale said, storming off in the opposite direction.

"I should be a whole lot more concerned about this hospital," Regina said with a wary expression.

"I pick up his slack. Which is a lot." The woman held out her hand to Regina, and she accepted it. "I'm Dr. Campbell. I got roped in after the last curse."

"Nice to meet you," Regina said. "Maybe you could tell me what's going on? I'm mostly in the dark about all of this."

"Right." Dr. Campbell nodded, not even glancing at the clipboard and motioned to the door a few steps down. "She's our only Jane Doe and considering you don't seem familiar…"

Dr. Campbell handed her the clipboard.

"After the last curse, of course, there were newcomers, but according to everyone, she showed up in the E.R. unconscious." Dr. Campbell watched as Regina scanned the reports and paperwork. "We were under the impression you were aware that you were the emergency contact because of your signature on the documentation stating as the most powerful authority in town you're the legal caretaker."

Regina flipped through until she came across the page where her name was signed. The signature was undoubtedly hers. But she would've remembered agreeing to act on behalf of a comatose patient.

A teenage girl. We admitted her into ICU with severe injuries, including head trauma. She hadn't opened her eyes until an hour ago when she ran in front of Ruby's car. Brunette. Light brown eyes.

She released a deep breath and handed the clipboard back to Dr. Campbell.

"Nothing rings a bell?"

"I'm afraid not. I supposed it doesn't matter now, though. If I can help, I will."

The doctor looked grateful – more than she'd ever seen Whale be for anything. Without another word, she opened the door, revealing the commotion going on inside.

"It's alright, honey. You're safe here." The nurse was speaking as calmly as she could manage with raised hands. She took a step closer, and in response to the unwelcomed movement, the teen tensed up. Regina's eyes widened as a wave of electricity, bright green and lethal, exploded into the wall behind the nurse. It missed her completely, but what interested Regina was that the girl hadn't moved a finger to do it.

Rightfully so the nurse quickly escaped the room out of reasonable fear of electrocution.

"I was considering a sedative earlier when she came in."

"I wouldn't recommend it," Regina said. "Just give me a moment."

"Of course." Dr. Campbell nodded – unusually calm after what they'd all just seen. She stepped out, closing the door behind herself, and Regina directed her attention back to the patient.

"I see we're having a bad day. I know those, believe me." Regina inspected the narrowed look she received and let out a chuckle. "I was the Evil Queen. I know all about bad days."

The girl's hand twitched, and a small spark ignited in the air above her lap. It slowly started to form into a ball of charged energy - green and purple tendrils wrapping around each other violently.

"That's impressive. It's draining, and you're injured, so I know you must be hurting." Regina took a cautious step. "I know something that will help, but you have to trust me."

The ball only grew a size bigger but the girl's brow creased in discomfort.

"I'll start with me then. I'm Regina. Reformed villain, mayor of this town you're in."

Regina was somewhat known for her impatience – and her weakness when it came to children.

She sighed and reached out to energy spiraling in place. Her arm jumped at the spark that grazed her hand before her own magic overpowered it and she closed her hand around the shrunken magic. She closed her fist around it, and it disappeared with a small puff. The teen slumped a little.

"I think you and I will get along just fine if you learn to trust me." Regina was slow and careful as she reached with both hands, pressing a palm to the girl's chest and back. They both shivered at the transfer of magic. The burden of power lifted from the injured girl and into Regina who could bear it just fine. "Isn't that better? I want to help, dear. I'm going to take care of you until we figure everything out, okay?"

Regina removed her hands and received a nod. She sat down in the wooden, green chair next to the hospital bed. From the ongoing silence, Regina could tell it would be a one-sided conversation. Although, she didn't blame her for it since she'd just woken up after being in a coma for months. It was back when Zelena was in town and that already felt like ages ago.

"Do you know where you are? Remember anything before waking up here?" Regina asked. Surprisingly, the girl did open her mouth to speak, but only a small inaudible sound left her throat before she pressed her lips together in a grimace.

Regina quickly spotted a pale pink cup sitting next to a clear plastic cup with two pills in it. Because she wasn't sure what they did, she only went for the cup. Regina gently moved her fingers, and the cup floated from the table over to the girl. Confused brown eyes became a bit clearer as she watched the cup until it was close enough for her to reach.

After a few shaky sips of water, she sat down the cup on the bedside table. She cleared her throat quietly and looked to Regina again with a furrowed brow.

"Do you remember anything at all?" Regina asked.

She shook her head and said, "Nothing."

"What about your name?"

"Dawn, I think. I don't know if it's mine. It's all I remember."

"That's fine. Would you like to be addressed as Dawn?" Regina questioned. "It's up to you what you want me to call you."

"Dawn is okay."

Regina offered her a gentle smile and nodded, giving her a soft, "Okay. Good."

The door eased open in the momentary silence, and Regina was about to scold someone until she saw that it was Emma and Ruby – too impatient to wait any longer for news. Dawn tensed up, but no magic formed.

"Dawn, this is my friend, Emma. She's the sheriff. And you've met Ruby already."

Emma gave a small wave, keeping to the edges of the room. Ruby, however, didn't hesitate to approach.

"Better?" Ruby asked. Dawn nodded. "You're in good hands with Regina."

Dawn turned her eyes to Emma, and they both raised their eyebrows at each other.

"Have I done something wrong?" Dawn asked.

"Well technically you were jaywalking," Emma said with a shrug. "I could give you a ticket if you want."

"She's joking," Ruby said, pursing her lips at Emma.

"You're not in trouble," Regina said. "But you were in an accident. We're not sure of any details, but we have to look into it. You were badly injured."

"How bad?" Dawn asked.

Regina cleared her throat, recalling the startling list of injuries in the case file Dr. Campbell shared with her. She readjusted her position in the chair. She shared a look with Dawn, and the teen nodded her confirmation.

"If you're sure. You arrived here with a broken arm, a dislocated shoulder, twelve broken ribs, a collapsed lung, severe head trauma…six stab wounds, and third-degree burn down your left side…" The other three in the room glanced at Dawn's left side, and Regina continued. "That they report disappeared after a few days."

"Damn, anything else?" Emma scoffed. "Jesus, kid. What happened?"

"I don't know," Dawn said.

"You don't remember any of that happening?"

"No."

"She's not sure of her name. And that's fine." Regina assured. "Which is why I'm your guardian for the time being. You'll stay with me. But it's only temporary until you and I work out some permanent arrangements for you."

Dawn nodded, but her brow furrowed as though she was confused…or in pain. Maybe it was both. Either way, Regina knew it was best she rests despite having been 'sleeping' for a few months. She must have been exhausted.

"You're confused and probably very tired. I don't want to give you an unnecessary headache. So, I'm going to stay here with you, and we're going to let Dr. Campbell look at you. She's offered to take over in place of Dr. Whale. She's much more pleasant, believe me."

Dawn didn't say anything, but it was apparent she was opposed to the idea of any more people poking and prodding. She glanced at Ruby.

"Can you stay?" She asked.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'll stay," Ruby said.

"I'll go run down that case file for my report," Emma said. She walked over to the bed and gently reached out for Dawn's shoulder. "Don't worry, kid. Regina is going to take good care of you."

* * *

The dining room only held the sounds of forks clinking against the glass plates.

Regina lifted her glass to her lips, raising an eyebrow as Emma sucked up a noodle. She and Henry snickered as quietly as they could as if Regina couldn't have possibly seen it. The brunette rolled her eyes at them but never seemed to be more malice than affection.

Lately, it was getting harder to share these family dinners with Emma when it was difficult to ignore her growing crush. She couldn't help but find things adorable about the blonde and on top of that, she was Emma Swan, and she didn't have too many unlikeable qualities. Beautiful. Sweet smile. Terrible, yet amusing sense of humor. And, unfortunately, Regina had to admit the leather jackets and the Bug were growing on her.

She knew something had sparked between them in Neverland and even a little bit before that if she thought about it. But when she finally acknowledged it was a crush – a big one – it had been a few weeks after Robin had left. She hadn't heard from him and decided that the flame had officially died. Then one Friday, Emma sent Henry off to spend the night with his grandparents and had a fried ice cream pie with a bottle of wine with her.

That was the moment she figured it out. Emma had been taking a bite of the pie as they watched the Breakfast Club. And after she was caught staring, Emma just smiled at her. This teenage crush formed and then just continued to grow without permission.

"So, mom…" Henry started. Regina blinked out of her thoughts and looked over to him. "I'm fourteen now…I was thinking maybe I should start learning how to drive."

Emma jumped, hearing Regina practically choke. She gave a worried glance to the older woman. "Do you need the Heimlich?" She asked. It came out mumbled since her mouth was full of food.

"No, but thank you, dear." Regina chuckled. "You may need it, though."

Emma scrunched up her nose playfully but then looked over to Henry with a skeptical expression, remembering her father had taken Henry on a driving lesson once before. That wasn't the most excellent idea, and Regina damn near had a heart attack when he just casually confessed to it.

"Uh, I don't-" Emma started, not exactly sure what to say. They usually needed a little more time – alone – to coordinate, especially with something so big. So, she closed her mouth without finishing her sentence and slowly chewed as she looked to Regina as if they could sort this out from across the table without speaking.

Regina cleared her throat. "Your mother and I need to talk about it first. You may be fourteen but-"

"But I'm a teenager." Henry inserted.

"Don't interrupt your mother," Emma mumbled over another mouthful of food.

"Thank you." Regina grinned, and Emma gave her a toothy smile. Damn that smile. She turned away and looked back at Henry to reply to him. "Henry, let us think about it, please. As I was saying, you are a teenager, but technically you shouldn't be behind the wheel until you're fifteen."

"She is right, Henry."

And so, commenced the pouting.

Although, because he has his mother's stomach, Henry was easily satisfied by a bowl of ice cream before bed. He gave both his mothers a hug, leaving the women to themselves.

They took their time washing dishes with glasses of wine and conversation as always. Regina insisted on washing, so Emma was standing next to her with the drying towel over her shoulder, pouring herself another glass.

"So, how did it go earlier?" Emma asked.

"How did what go?"

"The kid. You and Ruby stayed back."

"It was fine, I suppose. Dawn didn't talk much, but I wouldn't expect too much conversation after she'd only woken up from a coma not even a full day yet. Dr. Campbell expects that her memories could return gradually, but with the trauma she suffered, it's possible she won't ever remember what happened to her."

"Sucks." Emma murmured.

"So eloquently put." Regina smirked, passing a plate to her. "Other than that, her motor skills are looking promising. The doctors are about ready to call her instant recovery nothing short of a miracle or magic, of course."

Emma hummed her acknowledgment as she dried off the plate and then put it the dish rack as Regina passed her Henry's claimed Iron Man glass.

"You want to say something."

"Are you really going to take in a stranger?"

"She's a little girl, Emma." Regina frowned. She was surprised Emma was against the idea.

"Little? She's a teenager. Teenagers are headaches."

"She doesn't know who she is, and she has no one to look after her."

Emma sighed, tilting her head to the side. "Regina, if you go through with this I know for a fact that you'll get attached. And there's nothing wrong with that, but it'll be a big change for you and Henry."

"I know that." Regina laid the towel down next to the sink and leaned back against the counter.

Regina had thought about this. Bringing Dawn into her household would inevitably mean adopting her because she couldn't leave her on her own when she was alone and without a life that she could remember.

"I'm going to support whatever you choose," Emma said. "But I just want you to be sure. Are you?"

"Yes, I'm sure."


	2. Chapter 2

In the year since the chaos that was Robin and Rumple left town, a lot had changed with Storybrooke. One thing had to be the staff at the Sheriff's station. Mulan, August, and Phillip joined law enforcement, giving Emma and David a lot more breathing room - the three of them also prided themselves on being Emma's dedicated drinking buddies.

As for Regina, she didn't care much for more friends. However, she and Ruby had become close in the last year after Regina flippantly gave her advice about pursuing something with Belle. Now Ruby and Belle were living together in domestic bliss, and there was someone other than Emma – unbearably attractive Emma – glued to her after work hours.

And that's why Regina was observing the odd look in Ruby's eye while they had lunch.

"So…" Regina said. Ruby jumped, and she sighed, averting her eyes back down to her untouched sandwich. "Either something is wrong, or you're cheating on Belle."

"What?" Ruby almost shouted. "No. You know I'm not."

"Then what's wrong?" Regina asked.

"It's nothing." Ruby waved off Regina's concern, even though the headache she had was still chopping at her frontal lobe from this morning. "Just a headache. Nothing to worry about."

"Are you sure? You seem distracted."

"Well, yeah. A lot of shit went down yesterday. I could've killed Dawn with my car."

Regina nodded her agreement with a sigh. "Even for Storybrooke, it's unusual for a child and their wellbeing to fall into my lap suddenly."

"I do not doubt that you can handle it. Should've enjoyed the quiet while it lasted."

Before Regina could respond, her phone started to vibrate in her pocket. She let out a sigh fearing there was a problem at Town Hall. It'd been one thing after another, which she'd take over demons and wicked witches any day, but it was exhausting how needy politics were.

"Is it your aggressive assistant?" Ruby asked.

"Lauren is not aggressive. She's good at her job."

"Emma avoided Town Hall for a week after the woman ripped her new one for not making an appointment to have lunch with you."

"Don't remind me," Regina said. She recognized the number -thankfully not from her office. "Regina Mills."

"Mayor Mills, it's Dr. Campbell." Regina glanced at Ruby as the woman involuntarily heard the voice on the other side.

"Yes. I remember. Is Dawn all right?"

"She's doing well. I wanted to speak with you about a particular matter."

"Of course."

"Well, I think it would be in everyone's best interest if Dawn has a psych evaluation."

'Psych evaluation?' Ruby mouthed with a frown.

"May I ask what prompted this thought?" Regina asked.

"It's just...these injuries she's suffered…Regardless of whether she remembers or not; I believe it's important to know what her mental state is. Possibly being attacked the way she may have been could lead to severe PTSD, and I feel it's best we know how to move forward."

"I'm inclined to agree."

"I'm glad to hear, Mayor Mills. I'll leave the scheduling up to you once you've spoken to her about it."

"I appreciate that, thank you."

"Have a nice day, Miss Mills," Dr. Campbell said before the call ended.

Regina laid her phone down on the table, reworking her thoughts on how soon she'd be going back to see Dawn. Although she wasn't all that hungry to begin with, that call reminded her of all the trauma Dawn suffered, and her appetite vanished.

"So, she thinks the girl is crazy," Ruby said, leaning back in her chair.

"That's not what she thinks, Ruby. As Emma would say, she's 'been through hard shit.'"

"That  _is_  what Emma would say. I also think Emma would disagree with the idea of a shrink."

"Well, neither yourself or Emma are her guardian. I have to do what best even if she doesn't like it." Regina sighed again, feeling a headache forming from the stress of the last few days. "Besides, Emma would agree as a mother."

Ruby bobbed her head in agreement. Through the throbbing in her head, she got the notion maybe she should visit Dawn herself before any talks of shrinks and therapy potentially ruined her good mood.

"I think I'm going to go check-in." Regina gave her a puzzled look as she stood up. "Wouldn't hurt make sure she's okay."

"It'd be good to build up a strong trust with her. I suppose I will be making a call to Dr. Hopper this evening."

"You do the fun stuff…oh, and don't think I haven't noticed you pining. I'll figure out who it is."

Regina watched her go. The last thing she needed was Ruby poking around in her love life. Especially not while she was combating the growing strength of her affection for Emma. Apparently, there was no rest in her near future.

* * *

Dawn's eyes averted from the ceiling at the knock on the door. Ever since the woman – Regina – had approached her with a calming touch, her magic wasn't strong enough to defend against potential threats. Luckily, it was Regina who poked her head inside.

"Is it alright if I come in?" Regina asked. Dawn nodded without a thought as the woman had been cautious with the boundaries. She appreciated that Regina at least asked first, unlike the doctors and nurses. She slipped in with a friendly smile. "How are you feeling today?"

"Better than a few days ago, I guess."

"I do hope so. You were in a coma." Regina settled into a stiff chair near the hospital bed, and it only added to her uneasy feelings about being in a hospital. "Are you cold?"

"Not particularly," Dawn said. "You wanted to talk?"

"If that's alright with you."

"I'm not busy. It's kind of quiet here."

Regina looked around noticing that the remote to the fully functioning tv was across the room. She stood up and retrieved it, sitting it beside Dawn's hand. The corner of the teen's lips turned up in thanks.

"I wanted to talk to you about something Dr. Campbell brought to my attention." Regina sat back down in the chair, ignoring the protests from her back. "She thinks you should speak to a therapist for an evaluation."

"What for?" Dawn asked.

"Considering your injuries, you've suffered from some trauma. Even though you don't remember anything, I think it might be best to know how you are psychologically before you get back to the outside world."

"You're my guardian, right?" Regina nodded. "I guess I don't have a choice."

"You do have a choice. If you didn't, I wouldn't have mentioned it," Regina said. "I thought that we were building trust, and I believed I was the right person to bring this to you, so you don't feel ambushed. I've been resistant to therapists in the past, so I understand.

"But believe me, I only want to do what will help you. You're not agreeing to have regular sessions with him. It's just one evaluation. Can we do that?"

"We just met," Dawn said. It was subtle, but Regina noticed she sized her up carefully. "I don't really know you. You seem like a hard person to say no to-"

"I-"

"But I trust you. It's weird but…" Dawn shrugged her shoulders. Shit was hard to explain when you had no memory. "It seems almost natural to trust you. And I'm too tired to question it, so why not?"

"Well, I do appreciate that." Regina glanced around the dull room again. "Is there anything I can get you?"

"How long am I going to be here?"

"Possibly another few days. Dr. Campbell is worried about deterioration in your muscles. She wants to observe you for a few more days."

"What season is it? I don't think I was paying attention the first time I left."

"Winter still. It's January. Why?"

"Can we go outside?"

Regina looked skeptical, eyebrow at her hairline. "I don't know…"

"I won't run off."

"Well, you're going to need something warm. I'll be back in a minute."

* * *

Footsteps echoed off the hallway walls. It had been so quiet the last few minutes, Regina didn't expect the staccato of Archie's suede shoes. She stepped away from the door to greet him while also hiding that she was staring at Dawn.

"Hello, Regina," Archie said. "How are you?"

"I'm well, thank you. And yourself?" Regina asked, cutting her eyes to the window again.

"I'm good."

Regina nodded with a tight smile. Archie noticed her unease watching as she continued to look towards the room. She gestured to the door and said, "Dawn is waiting inside."

"I wanted to talk you about Dawn before we got started," Archie said. At Regina's questioning frown, he continued. "I think I should take some questions from someone close to her. I'm assuming that would be you for the moment."

"What would you like to know?"

"Have you noticed anything when you speak to her? Any tells or odd behavior?" Archie asked.

"Well, she seems to get antsy and uncomfortable when I've asked about her life before Storybrooke. I thought it was odd since she doesn't remember it, but the subject doesn't sit well with her."

"That's very helpful." He scribbled a note on the inside cover of a notepad. "Also, I wanted to know about her living arrangements after her discharge. Any recommendations I have would be affected. Does she have a permanent home with you?"

The question gave her pause. She thought about the next step regularly and never did she imagine herself eventually withdrawing her offer to Dawn for a home. Especially if it turned out, finding any family was impossible.

"She does. For as long as she wants it," Regina said.

"That's good." Archie nodded but didn't write that down. "I'm going to introduce myself. I'll be honest with you; I have no idea how long this is going to take."

"I'll be here."

Archie bowed his head with a small smile and entered the room. When the door clicked shut behind him, she turned away, leaning her head against the wall and took a long, deep breath. Regina closed her eyes for a moment, finding the ordeal rather stressful more for herself than Dawn.

Archie made his way to the table and sat down across from Dawn. "It's nice to meet you, Dawn. My name is Archie."

Silence greeted him, and that caused him to look up from his notepad. He expected her to be reserved as Regina had mentioned before that she talked but not much. Perfectly reasonable considering everything about her situation and her surroundings was foreign to her.

"So how are you?" He asked.

Dawn glanced to the door and back to him, her right hand fidgeting nervously with nothing to hold on to. "I'm fine," she said after a minute.

Archie smiled and nodded. "That's very good. Hopefully, you're feeling much better than you did a few days ago?" Dawn nodded. "Good. You and I are here because you suffered a great deal of trauma, and it's important to know what kind of things it's left on your mind. So, during this evaluation, I'll ask you a series of questions so we can find out where you are mentally. Are you okay with that?"

"I am," Dawn said.

"Great. And at any point, if you want to take a break, please let me know." At Dawn's final nod, Archie felt they were adequately acquainted and ready to proceed. "Okay, Dawn, can tell me anything about yourself? Any people in your life? Friends? A hobby?"

"I can't remember." She shifted in her chair; brow creased like she was trying to pull something from her empty memories.

"That's just fine." He wrote down a few words, careful not to make her feel any pressure because of it. "When you try to think of your past or any memories, how does it feel? Does it feel like reaching into an empty box, or does it cause you any pain?"

Dawn sighed, sinking a bit into her chair. "No pain. Just…it feels like a void of nothingness. I'm not even sure Dawn is my name. It's just what came to me when Regina asked, but that was all."

"Nothing has come back to you at all?"

"No."

Archie wrote another thing down before pulling a blue folder in front of himself. "What do you think of Regina?"

"She's nice." Dawn shrugged. "She comes to visit me every day. She brings me food because it's crappy here."

Archie chuckled and nodded.

"Do you have any uneasy feelings about her or anyone else you've met? Like Ruby and Emma? Dr. Campbell? Do you think you could come to trust anyone here?"

"I trust them. Probably more than is normal for someone you just met but I trust Regina."

Archie nodded. "Excuse me for jumping around." He turned his notepad around to her and laid down a pen on top of it. "Could you sign your name?"

Dawn picked up the pen and hesitated before she pressed the tip into the paper. She penned four letters to the page in neat cursive. It seemed to surprise her how natural it felt to sign.

Archie hummed as he took the pen back from her and turned the notepad over. It was old word script from the Enchanted Forest. He was still familiar with it as Regina had long ago combined her learned cursive from this world and her handwriting from the Enchanted Forest.

"Very good. Very nice." He pushed it aside and rested his fingers on top of the blue folder. "I want to try something. Again, let me know if you need a break. I'm going to show you some pictures, and I want you to tell me what you see."

"Okay."

He opened the folder and lifted the first image up to show her. She squinted at it as if she thought maybe that wasn't what he meant to show her.

"Only tell me what you can see. That's all."

"Um, a butterfly."

"Okay, good. I'm just going to write your answers on the back of each one," Archie said, using a marker on the image and put it aside. He picked up the next one.

"An angel."

"And the next one?"

"Bears. Fighting."

One after another, Dawn answered, frowning at each differently. They were all relatively obscure and very open to interpretation. This test wasn't vital to his evaluation – and though it didn't have concrete results – he was curious to see what her mind conjured and what her eyes deciphered. All seemed well until the final image.

"And this last one?" Archie asked, holding it up.

Dawn tensed, shifting in her chair. Her fingers curled into her palm, and she stared into the picture with an unusual intensity. Archie immediately saw how her somewhat relaxed posture turned rigid.

"Dawn?" Archie questioned.

"Dragon. It's a dragon."

"Thank you," Archie said. He wrote her answer on the back and shuffled all the images together to place back in the folder. "That's very good, Dawn. That's all I have for you. Thank you for meeting with me."

Dawn nodded, eyebrows drawn together.

"It's not necessary, but if you ever need someone to talk to, I'd always be happy to listen. Especially if it's something you don't want anyone to know, anything you disclose is protected by doctor-patient confidentiality."

She gave a single nod as he grabbed his things.

"I'll send in Regina for you if that's alright?" he asked.

"Thank you," Dawn said.

As expected, when Archie stepped out, Regina was still there waiting diligently for over an hour. However, she was accompanied by Emma, who no doubt distracted her for the time. Regina stood up from her chair and walked over to him with a mildly curious look in her eyes.

"Well? Is she alright?" Regina asked.

"I'd say she's fine. As for the test, I'll need a little bit to analyze the results. I should have it in a day or two," Archie said. Regina nodded. "I know these kinds of things can be draining so maybe it'd be good for you to talk to her."

"Go ahead. I'll clean up," Emma said, leaning back further in her chair.

"Have a nice day, Sheriff Swan," Archie said, "Mayor Mills."

"Thank you, Dr. Hopper," Regina said after him before she stepped into the room.

Dawn looked up from her right hand, and her shoulders sagged, seeing Regina approach. She sat down across from her and smiled gently. They sat in silence for a few minutes, and it never once grew awkward. Dawn didn't necessarily look troubled, but she looked tired, possibly emotionally, from the hour of questions.

They had known each other for a whole seven days now. There was an unspoken knowing between them. Dawn trusted Regina, with her life even, and not because she didn't have a choice but because it seemed so familiar to trust her.

Regina reached across the table and offered her hand out to her. Dawn was slow to bring her hand up from her lap, but she comfortably rested it in Regina's palm.

"How do you feel?" Regina asked.

"Tired," Dawn said, "Really tired."

"I do know that feeling. Talking about your thoughts and feelings is exhausting. I get it."

"I didn't even know anything."

"You'll still feel the same regardless," Regina said. She stood up from her seat, and Dawn followed. "I can walk you back to your room so you can get some rest."

Dawn nodded and got up as well, following Regina to the door.

"Do you know when I could leave?"

"If you can promise me that you feel all right, I will speak to Dr. Campbell about having you discharged tomorrow."

* * *

"How's everything on the Dawn front?" Emma asked.

As per Regina's request, she was helping transform one of the guest rooms into something suitable for a teenager. Luckily, the walls were a neutral black and white and that only left finding furniture that had a bit more character.

Emma was pulling the dresser into the right spot as Regina mounted a circular mirror on the wall. Well, Regina was supposed to be installing the mirror, but it was hard to resist staring at the woman who she'd found attractive since the moment they met.

Said woman shed her shirt earlier and was pushing furniture around the room in a form-hugging tank top and tight jeans. Usually – shamefully – Regina stared at her ass a lot but today was a thigh kind of day, and Emma had very nice thighs…and calves…and arms.

"Regina?" Emma called out.

"What?" Regina blinked, turning away as Emma looked back at her.

"You didn't hear anything I said, did you?" She asked. "I asked about Dawn."

"She's doing fine. Anxious to leave the hospital."

"As she should be. Whale is an asshole." Emma pulled a drawer open finding that it was already generously stocked with clothes. She closed it and opened another with a raised eyebrow. "Don't let anyone say you're never prepared."

"Why's that?" Regina gently placed a small box on the right side of the desk across the room as Emma peeked into the closet – full.

"How do you know she can wear all these clothes?"

"She gave Ruby an odd look yesterday, but I asked her to get Dawn's measurements."

"Yep. Prepared."

"Always," Regina said. She put down a black notebook at the center of the desk. Archie had recommended giving her something to vent out her thoughts and any potential memories.

Emma hummed her acknowledgment and moved on to fix up something else. She was purposely avoiding making the bed up because she knew Regina would be smug enough to call her out on it. She rarely made her bed, so it'd be a 'surprise' she knew how. So, she delegated herself to hang the ten framed landscape photos on the wall.

Regina watched her stretch to reach the hooks, shoulders flexing devilishly. She sighed deeply, feeling a bit guilty for eyeing her like a piece of meat. However, she liked to consider herself a lot better at pining from afar than one Killian Jones – even if Emma was never far enough away for that.

"So, uh, what's my payment for helping you home makeover the shit out of this room in less than a few hours?"

"My appreciation and affection," Regina deadpanned.

"That's okay and all but I was promised lunch," Emma said with a shrug, smirking at her.

"I suppose it's only fair. If you could put the books on the shelf and make the bed, I'd be happy to get the Savior her lunch."

"Fair enough." Emma picked up the new books and once again reached to get them on their designated shelves.

The other woman took one more glance at her before leaving the room with red ears and goosebumps.

* * *

Ruby knocked on the door and waited for approval to enter. To her relief, she was quickly granted entrance, feeling her pounding headache fade as she stepped inside. She closed the door behind her and noticed that it was a lot brighter in the room than it usually was.

Dawn was sitting on the edge of the bed, staring through the window. The rerun of an old baseball game playing on the tv seemed forgotten. It was snowing out now, and so far everyone wished for it to die down. However, it wasn't hard to imagine that Dawn wanted out of this place regardless of the season.

"Ready for your escape?" Ruby asked, sitting a bag down beside Dawn as she sat down in a chair. "Got it all planned out."

"Now or never," Dawn said.

"Are you sure you're ready to go? How's your arm?"

"It's fine. I'm ready."

Ruby nodded. "Okay." She pointed to the duffle next to her and said, "Regina wanted me to bring you civilian clothes."

"Thanks."

"Get changed, we got any place to be but here," Ruby said, pulling her phone from her pocket. She scrolled through the few texts Regina had sent her, finding nothing else she needed to do except getting Dawn out of here and to Mifflin Street.

Dawn wasted no time doing so, unbothered by Ruby's presence in the room. Ruby glanced up from her phone once or twice spotting a scar here and there, but as Whale and Campbell had noted, they were rapidly fading in her conscious state.

She was interested in Dawn. Something weird had happened at some point during one of their interactions. There were stirring, uneasy emotions rushing through her suddenly, and they seemed to be none of her own feelings.

It had been bothering her to no end, and she hadn't yet gotten a chance to bring it up with Granny. Although she wasn't sure what she would ask as the jumble of headaches and relief and unfamiliar emotions was hard to explain.

She looked up from her phone at a frustrated huff across the room. Dawn had managed to get into her jeans, but Emma's bright idea of a button-up shirt wasn't working out so well. Ruby snorted, shoving her phone into her jacket, and got up to help. She filled the space in front of Dawn and raised her hands to the buttons as Dawn instantly gave up when she appeared.

"Thanks," Dawn said.

"No problem. I wanted to talk to you about something," Ruby said already halfway done with the buttons. "I don't know how much you remember from when we first met outside the hospital."

"It's a little blurry."

Ruby paused on the last, drawing her hands away. She tugged on her lip with her teeth as a bout of nervousness sprung on her. But surely her situation wouldn't scare off someone who had magic and didn't bat an eyelash at the mention of Regina's former title.

"I'm a wolf. In case you don't remember or it wasn't clear enough before."

"Full moon and…fur?" Dawn raised an eyebrow. "Wolf?"

"Yeah." Ruby tilted her head, slipping her hands into her back pockets. "Does that bother you?"

"You don't eat people, do you?"

"No. I prefer sushi."

"I guess I can say I've never met a wolf before. That's cool."

Ruby sighed in relief and smiled. "Great. Now that I got that over with let's get you out of here."

She grabbed the remaining pieces of clothing in the bag and helped Dawn into a light jacket and handed her the black peacoat Regina insisted she had to wear because of the snow.

Dawn left the room first, and Ruby followed carrying the empty duffle, and the light backpack of stuff Dawn had accumulated during her stay in the last few days.

"Leaving so soon," Dr. Campbell said, turning away from the nurse's station. "Hopefully, we don't have to see each other aside from your regular check-up. I don't want to see you here again with that kind of trauma."

"I doubt anyone could stumble into that much trouble twice," Dawn said.

Dr. Campbell flashed a gentle smile and said, "Good luck, Dawn."

* * *

"What's it like?"

The question broke the content silence in the car. Ruby glanced at Dawn with a subtle grin. She wasn't ordinarily interested in starting a conversation even if she liked her company. It easily could've been a combination of a depressing hospital and waking up from a long coma that kept her quiet the last few days.

And Ruby would like to think being a wolf was actually cool enough to attract her curiosity.

"What?" Ruby asked.

"Turning. Does it hurt?"

"No. There's more magic in it than physical transformation, which I won't complain about." She scratched her cheek, giving something a thought before speaking again. "What I would complain about is the aftermath. I never end up somewhere I remember going, and the mind gets really foggy the morning after the full moon."

"Do you forget things?"

"Only where I've been for the night."

"So, what if you didn't change back in the morning? What if you stayed for a while?"

"I see where you're trying to go with that, Pup, but you're not a wolf."

Ruby frowned at her slip and cut her eyes at Dawn on her right, but the teen either didn't catch it or chose not to address it. She'd have to bring up her situation to Granny soon. Not that she found anything wrong, but it was strange.

"How do you know?"

"I can smell a wolf. I'm the only wolf in town."

Dawn nodded, filing that away in her mind. It was important to remember anything she was given. Admittedly, being well into her teens meant she'd lost a lot of memories and maybe left some people behind. The only comfort she had in that was that hopefully, she left behind whoever – or whatever – had left her in such a bad state.

"Don't think too hard, Dawn. We'll figure out everything," Ruby said, "Until then maybe try to relax. Be a normal kid for a bit?"

"I'm probably not normal. I could try, I guess." She watched neighborhoods pass by in the windows. "Where is Regina anyway? Are mayors busy people?"

"Even for a small town, it does tend to get hectic for her sometimes. But she's just doing her final checks to make sure everything is all set for you."

"She didn't have to do anything for me. Even the fancy coat wasn't all that necessary."

"Say that all you want, Dawn, but Regina is…she's a perfectionist. Trust me; she's the best kind of extra," Ruby said.

She turned into the driveway of the Mills' residence, finding Emma's car parked in its usual spot gathering snow on the hood. Dawn's eyebrows rose to her hairline as she looked at the house.

"She lives here?" Dawn asked.

"Yep." She shut off the engine and opened her door. "Lucky you. You landed in the right town with the right mayor."

"Why do you say that?"

Ruby closed the trunk with the bags in her hands. She gestured to the house. "Because she's a rich lady with money to blow." She snorted, and Dawn looked even more surprised. "I'm joking. Regina, as scary as she can be, is a big softie for kids and she really cares about you…so, if you gotta go one day, try not to break her heart?"

Dawn glanced back at the house and nodded to Ruby.

"Good."

They walked up to the door and before Ruby made it off the last step, the door opened. Regina raked her right hand through her hair, opening the door wider to allow them in. Ruby walked in without a thought, but Dawn moved slowly behind her as the house grew even more impressive on the inside. She looked up at the vaulted ceiling and crystal chandelier of the foyer.

Her eyes darted to all the expensive vases and fresh flowers. Gold trim picture frames and white walls.

"Wow," Dawn whispered as she spotted Emma and Ruby already in conversation by a doorway. Emma had a half-eaten sandwich in her hand, and her badge clipped on her belt.

"Hope it's not too much," Regina said, closing the door behind her. And then she reached out. "I can take your coat."

"Thank you." Dawn shrugged her good arm out of the sleeve, and Regina carefully pulled the coat from her other arm. She opened a thin door to her right and found a place to hang it. "And thank you for letting me stay here. Your house is…"

"Overwhelming?" Regina asked.

"No. Beautiful, actually. Who doesn't want to be a mayor when they grow up?"

"Anyone who values their sanity. It can be frustrating."

Dawn grinned at Regina's eye roll.

"If you like, I can show you around. Or if you want, feel free to explore for yourself. I trust you'll stay away from the liquor cabinet."

"If you don't mind, maybe I could relax for a while."

"Of course. I'll show you to your room."

Dawn nodded and claimed her stuff from Ruby's hand, ready to follow Regina up the stairs. Emma stopped herself before taking another bite of her sandwich and smirked.

"Feel good to be free?" Emma asked.

"Really good," Dawn said.

Emma nodded and said, "Welcome home. Don't get into too much trouble, yeah?"

"Do my best, Sheriff."

"Call me Emma. I like that better."

"Or because you suck at your job sometimes." Ruby laughed. Emma shoved her, putting the last piece of her sandwich in her mouth before walking back into the kitchen.

"Let's leave them to their mischief," Regina said to Dawn. She placed a gentle hand on her back and led her to the stairs.

Dawn was even more surprised to find the second floor was just as impressive as the first floor, and she wasn't even looking into the rooms yet. Regina's fingertips brushed a door as they walked, and she mentioned that to be Dawn's bathroom and one door down from there, Regina stopped.

She gestured to the door with a small smile, and Dawn reached out for the doorknob. "I hope it's okay," Regina said as she opened the door revealing quite a surprise. If Dawn could've been more speechless than she already had been by the rest of the house, she would have. "I tried to stay neutral since you weren't sure about colors."

"This is…amazing. You didn't have to do this for me," Dawn said.

Regina scoffed and waved it off like it wasn't a big deal. "It needed redecorating anyway. And I wanted to do it for you, Dawn." She leaned against the door frame, watching Dawn drop the bag on her arm at the foot of the bed.

The teen peeked in the closet and opened drawers before she let out a short breath. Her shoulders perked up and fell, matching the wordless astonishment. Dawn looked around the room a second time and turned to Regina.

"Thank you."

"Of course," Regina said. "I'm sure you're still tired."

"I could definitely pass out now."

"Shall I leave you to that?" Regina chuckled. "Dinner will be ready in an hour or two. I can come to get you then. You can meet Henry." She received a distracted nod in return and any worry she had about everything being perfect just vanished.

Just as Regina was about to leave her to that much-deserved nap – in a much softer bed – Dawn came up to her hesitantly. She opened her mouth to say something but refrained and instead was slow to put her arm around Regina in a tentative hug. Regina returned it quickly, careful to not put pressure on Dawn's injured arm between them.

"Thank you for everything," Dawn said. "I'm really grateful."

Regina smiled momentarily and touched her chin to Dawn's sharp shoulder. They pulled away from each other, and Dawn kicked off her shoes to settle down against the overwhelming comfort of the bed. Regina closed the door behind her and grinned as Dawn sighed in relief, dropping her head back on the pillows.


	3. Chapter 3

An art not yet mastered by Emma Swan – sneaking food off the counter while Regina was cooking. Though it was hard to resist temptation when she was stress baking the entire house up to the attic with desserts. And in the end, she'd scold everyone not to ruin their appetites like that wasn't the only way to get rid of all the food.

She reached out for a particularly appealing looking chocolate chip cookie. The back of her hand was immediately smacked with a spatula.

"Ow. What the fu-" Emma rubbed her right hand and obeying the command of Regina's raised eyebrow. "What's the point of making all of this if we can't have any? Well, forget the kids. Why can't  _I_  have any? I'm an adult. I can make bad decisions and live with them."

"You're just as much a child as Henry…and Dawn." Regina's brow creased.

"Tell you what…You let me have all the sweets I want, and I'll give you some advice. Deal?"

No.

No deal.

What advice could Emma have that would be useful?

Emma was crafty and most times Regina doesn't need crafty advice. She had a quip for that, but it was Emma. Emma that she really liked and couldn't say no to very often anymore. So, instead of denying her request, she nodded. Emma was happy to take two cookies from the warming rack in front of her and bit into one.

"Best thing I've ever tasted in my life," Emma said. "Don't tell my mom."

"You know I will." Regina, without prompting, provided Emma with a cold glass of milk. "So, what's this advice I so desperately need from you?"

"It's Dawn. That's why you're stress baking, but you should stop thinking so hard about it. Stop worrying."

"How could I not worry? I thought we…" Regina tightened her grip on the edges of the counter. "Dawn said she trusted me. I thought we had a connection. I just don't understand why she lives here and I never see her around except for meals and the occasional pass in the hallway."

"She knows you, but she doesn't know Henry all that well. She doesn't know me as well as she knows you, We're strangers."

"But-"

"Regina, she's a kid. She woke up in a weird place with no memories. The best thing you can do is give her space to get comfortable and be there for her when she needs you." Emma chuckled at Regina's confused frown. "You know, I can relate a little to her situation."

"You were in foster care," Regina said with a familiar downtrodden tone in her voice.

Emma had worked through her issues but there was something about it that Regina had yet to really forgive herself for. Though there was nothing Emma was holding against her and Regina was the only one she freely talked to about it.

"Yeah. I moved around a lot growing up. Walking into a new house with another new family was overwhelming and I'm sure that's how she feels." Regina nodded but Emma continued. "Dawn probably is feeling out of place. I felt like I had to learn boundaries because I wasn't part of the family. I was a stranger living in those foster homes and when that's what it feels like, no one wants to insert themselves into a family that's already been built. You're an intruder."

"Okay. I can understand that," Regina said. "I've not been welcoming enough."

Emma snorted, shaking her head in an endearing way. "Regina, it's not you. Not saying that all of this is accurate for Dawn but no matter how nice a family was, I still felt like the outsider. Because I was."

Regina nodded – reluctant to not blame herself. It was silent for a while. Long enough for Emma to assume the conversation was done and Regina needed time to process the information. However, the other woman had filed that away for later use as she was now curious about something and unsure if it was a good idea to ask.

So it was a bit awkward.

"Did you have a…favorite foster parent?" Regina asked. "I know they all decided not to adopt you but-"

"Mhm." Emma moved her empty glass around over the marble of the counter. "Her name was Natalie Vincent. She was nice. Fed me too much food all the time but I didn't mind. Actually, you remind me a lot of her."

"Is that a good thing?" Regina questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"If it had been in the cards for me to get adopted, I would've wanted it to be her that adopted me."

"I'm sorry she didn't."

"I'm over it. Wasn't her fault," Emma said. "Anyway, what I mean with all of this is that you're doing a great job. And I'm sure Henry and Dawn really appreciate it."

* * *

"Why is this so complicated?"

Dawn dropped her pen, having scratched out her fifth attempt at therapeutic journaling as Dr. Hopper had suggested. The idea seemed okay at the time but now sitting in front of the notebook was grating her nerves. Obviously, with no memory, she didn't think she'd be the best with words.

It wasn't very therapeutic. It was frustrating.

"What's so complicated?"

She turned around, surprised to hear another voice in her room. Henry was standing in the doorway and leaning against the door frame. She vaguely remembered leaving it open earlier.

"I, uh, have to keep a journal," Dawn said, turning around in her desk chair and leaning back. "It's harder than I thought."

"Maybe it's easier if you just record it so you can say whatever you want," Henry said.

"Record it?"

"On your phone."

He pointed to the device sitting next to the notebook. With Dawn's look of confusion, he stepped inside and picked up the phone. It easily unlocked with a swipe – he made a note to mention a password later – and opened the camera app.

"You just push the red button and it'll record everything you say or do, and you can save it."

Dawn accept the phone from him and sighed. "I hadn't gotten that far with this thing. There are no instructions."

"There are none. You just have to figure it out." Dawn sighed and Henry chuckled. That reminded him of his mother who only knew enough to not be considered technologically challenged. As far as they all knew Dawn was only two or three years old than him and just wouldn't do to have a 17-year-old be at a technological disadvantage at Storybrooke High.

"I have a lot of catching up to do, I guess," Dawn said.

"I can show you something that will help. Where's your laptop?"

"That thing? It's a computer, right?" Dawn gestured to the white box on the left side of her desk.

"You haven't even opened it," Henry murmured. "Okay, I'll be back in a second if you want help figuring out the internet."

"Sure."

"Cool. I'm going to get my laptop and I'll show you some stuff to help."

Once he left, Dawn picked up her phone again. She opened the camera app and quickly got it to turn to her. She looked at the wrecked notebook page and figure this would be better, possibly faster than brooding over a blank page every day.

She pressed the red button as Henry said and looked into the camera.

"Um, It's January 21st. I've been living with the Mills family for four days now. And apparent today I'm going learn how to use the internet from Henry. I'm ill-prepared so hopefully, this goes okay."

She stopped the video and turned the screen off just as Henry rushed back into her room. He was pulling his desk chair behind him with a comic book and his laptop in his other hand. He set up on her right side and opened up his laptop.

"Okay, so we'll start with the most important thing – Youtube."

* * *

_The wind was howling fiercely wafting the tall trees back and forth almost violently. Leaves whipped around swiftly spinning and gliding through the air._

_Dawn looked down at her hands and clothes. There was nothing significant about what she was wearing._

_She looked at the forest around her and it just left her confused. The sky was a dreary blue-gray color and the clouds were darkening._

_"Hello?" She called out, despite being aware that no one would be able to hear a thing with the apparent storm approaching. It was howling with an unwavering, unnatural fury._

_So, the safe thing to do would be to find shelter until the storm was over. Her feet started carrying her East for no specific reason except to be moving in the opposite direction of the thundering clouds._

_However, her plan was put to an abrupt halt as a frightening presence made her skin prickle. An uncomfortable feeling crawled up her spine. Dawn turned around and was met with a blurry figure, too distorted and abstract to make out as even a person._

_"What do you want?"_

_Her question was met with an eerie silence from it. It concerned her enough to take a few wary steps back. The figure still didn't make a sound but seemed agitated by her caution. Whatever form it had original started to ripple into something that wasn't any friendlier than its former shape._

_Dawn stumbled back with the intention to get away but her back collided with a firm obstacle that hadn't been there previously. She was blocked by a white brick wall. Her eyes inspected it in panic, finding that it wasn't only a brick wall but a wall of a castle._

_"What…"_

_Dawn moved her hands around the surface hoping for a give as the castle that appeared out of nowhere now spanned for miles and miles. She turned back around, finding that the figure once there was now a hulking presence shadowing her and taking shape of something she couldn't identify._

_"I'll have you." The voice was unidentifiable, but it was dark and ominous. And disguised somehow._

_The figure shifted and instantly Dawn's oxygen supply was cut off as if someone had both hands wrapped around her throat. The use of magic was obvious when her feet lifted from the ground, leaving her suspended in the air. Her lungs burned, pleading for oxygen and she grabbed for her neck, disregarding the fact that there were no hands touching her as she struggled against the invisible force._

_"Stop…please." Dawn begged on a choked breath. She gasped and her vision quickly started to become unfocused, littered with black dots._

_And then it was black._

* * *

Something about sweaty palms just made her uneasy. The dream itself was very startling but when her eyes slowly opened to a dark, quiet room, the dream began to elude her. It faded more and more with every second she was awake. Once the drowsiness of being half asleep went away, the nightmare that chilled her bones fully vanished in detail.

Dawn lifted her head from her pillow, finding her hands weren't the only part of her sweating. The nightmare was still gripping her tight, unsettling and creeping up her back like a cold hand. At the very least she was in a safe place – away from the dream.

There was a castle?

She sighed, pulling her fingers through her hair that was slightly damp. As was her shirt. And her shoulder felt sore. Her neck felt tight. It was unlikely she was getting back to sleep for the rest of the night so she pulled her covers back.

Her bare feet touched the softness of the plush rug with hesitancy. Like something was waiting beneath the bed. A dream she couldn't remember was still scaring her in a way she was sure had never happened before.

Dawn stood up and snatched clothes from the top drawer of her dresser. She didn't bother to check that it wasn't two shirts or a shirt and one sock. She left her room narrowing her eyes against the bright light of the hallway. The light left her feeling exposed and she hurried into the bathroom, closing the door behind her before even turning the light on.

She dropped the clothes to turn on the light and then turned the water to hot. After a minute or two, the room was flooded with steam as Dawn seemed to fight to get her clothes off. It was a struggle with a partially immobile arm but it was worse when the clothes suddenly felt suffocating.

Her shirt had a small rip in it as it laid in a puddle by the tub. Dawn sunk down into the piping hot water. The burn didn't register but it was soothing enough. She disappeared under the water for a moment, coming back up with small gasp. Her sore arm rested on the edge of the tub, the awkward angle causing a twinge and her hair was dripping onto her face.

But she couldn't be bothered with any of that.

She lifted her hand to her neck, feeling the roughness against her skin that she really couldn't explain how it seemed to be in the shape of hands.

* * *

Regina took a sip from her coffee, expertly typing out a text to Emma. She blamed the woman for her skillfulness at one handed typing, but she took pride in avoiding emojis. But it wasn't long now. Sometimes the urge was hard to resist.

**_She hasn't said anything all morning?_ **

**Space, Gina.**

She sighed and put her phone down next to the coffee machine. All this talk of space but being there didn't make any sense to her but she'd try anything. She turned around and Henry was managing to scarf down his breakfast and stare at his phone without making a mess of the counter like he did only a year ago.

Silence.

Regina didn't like the idea of raising teenagers in the age of technology. This was the age of silence and screen time. And though she did quite enjoy Netflix and stalking Emma's Instagram, she didn't like the silence as much as she used to. Especially now that she didn't live alone.

Dawn wasn't all that interested in technology from what Regina could gather. She expected maybe the girl would be curious about everything the internet could offer but she was instead staring blankly at the refrigerator. Regina couldn't think of anything to say after already getting nothing more than a murmured good morning.

Henry interrupted the silence, scraping the feet of his stool against the floor. At Regina's cringe, he said, "Sorry, Mom." He dumped his plate into the sink and kissed her cheek, grabbing his backpack from the back of the chair. "Bye Mom. Bye Dawn."

Dawn managed a small wave to his retreating form but quickly found another spot to stare into.

Regina bit her lip and tried to imagine what Emma would say in this situation.

"Breakfast not that great today?" Regina asked – and it was a very Emma thing to say – but not unkindly. But she'd only taken a few bites since Regina had put the plate down in front of her.

Dawn shifted her warm gaze to Regina and glanced down at her food. She running out of time before it grew cold and unable to be warmed up and still have a decent texture.

"This great," Dawn said, "It's just…one-handed…"

It wasn't the best excuse, considering she had been able to enjoy Regina's cooking for several days now without too much trouble. However, the steak one night, Regina did cut for her to make it manageable.

"Oh…" Regina turned to the drawer of silverware and pulled out a knife. "I'm sorry I forgot."

"No, it's okay. You don't have to," Dawn said as Regina pulled her plate across the counter and cut into the waffles.

She felt bad. Waffles were simple. She could figure it out herself. Surely, Regina knew that but conveniently her right hand had a weak grip that wasn't easy to explain considering her left side took the brunt of the damage from…whatever happened to her. Dr. Campbell found a healed fracture in her right hand, but it shouldn't have affected her now unless it hadn't been treated properly at the time.

"I don't mind," Regina said with a small smile. She looked up at Dawn who was staring into her right palm with a concerning intensity. But then she remembered Emma recommended space and she instead noticed Dawn's hair was damp and curling at the ends. "Handled the shower okay this morning? With your brace?"

"It was late last night. It was fine."

Regina frowned. She hadn't heard anything last night. She'd been up for hours until she fell asleep around 2AM. So, Dawn had been up later than that?

"You may not want to…" Regina put the plate back in front of her and deposited the knife in the sink. "But if you want to talk to someone who won't ask as many questions as Dr. Hopper, I am here to listen."

Dawn averted her eyes down to her plate. "Talk about anything?" She asked.

"Anything." Regina nodded.

"I woke up from a nightmare and I can't remember it. I don't even have an idea of what it was, but I can still feel it. Touching me."

"I know what I just said but can I ask at least one question?" Regina asked. Dawn nodded. "Touching you how?"

"Like hands around my neck."

"I see," Regina said, trying not to appear startled by the description. "I'm sorry you're feeling that way. We will figure this out. We will find whoever hurt you and they suffer the consequences for what they did. I can't promise that it will happen fast but I can promise that from here on out, I will protect you."

"But it's a dream that I don't even remember," Dawn said.

"If you trust me, I'll do whatever I can to fix that." Regina took her hand across the counter and Dawn settled into the warmth of that touch. "I'm going to protect you."

"You don't know who I am. I could be a bad person."

"You don't seem like a bad person."

Dawn pulled her hand away with a small frown. "Because I don't have my memory. Maybe I deserved whatever happened to me."

"I don't care what you may have done - no one should harm a child. Especially, in the way you were hurt." Regina sighed, shaking her head. "And if you were a bad person, what does that matter to me?"

"You let me live here with your family."

"I was the Evil Queen. I can't imagine you did anything that could compare to the chaos I caused hundreds of people." Dawn didn't seem reassured by that at all. "Okay, fine. Say you were a bad person, then. If I am capable of redemption, of having my enemies become my closest allies and friends, don't think you think I should give you the chance to do the same?"

Dawn shrugged.

"You're far too young to have so much self-loathing," Regina said. "And maybe that's exactly why you and I found each other."


	4. Chapter 4

Archie noticed the helpless face Dawn pulled as Emma closed the door behind herself. The sheriff’s encouraging smile did nothing to assure her though. Still Dawn settled down in the chair across from Archie.

“Can I get you anything? Tea? Water?” Archie asked.

“I’m fine.”

“Okay. Let me know if you change your mind,” Archie said. He picked up his notepad and pulled a pen from his blazer pocket. “So, it’s been a week.”

“Yeah.” Dawn sighed.

“A week of spending more time with the Mills. Are you and Regina getting on well?”

Dawn nodded. “She’s nice…weirdly understands me more than I think I understand myself.”

“That’s good to hear. And what about Henry? Have you interacted much with him?”

“We talk.”

Archie wrote quick note and looked back up from his pad. “What do you talk about?”

“Um, comic books mostly. And he’s been helping me with technology and all that.”

“It’s good you’ve got something in common with him.” Archie nodded when Dawn didn’t look too sure about it. “It’s important that you’re capable of finding a connection with someone closer to your age. I’m sure other than trying to remember things about your life, it can be just as hard to build relationships.”

“That makes sense, I guess,” Dawn said. Spending a few hours reading comic books was usually the least stressful part of her day. She didn’t need to remember anything. She just had to read.

“I am very curious about something. You don’t seem completely unfamiliar with the world around you. How much has Henry needed to explain?”

“Um…”

“Like what are the things that come natural to you versus what confuses you?”

“I know how to work the tv. The kitchen and the bathroom were easy to figure out. The house phone seems familiar, but I’ve had to ask Henry questions about the iPhone and the MacBook. But once he explains it, it’s pretty easy afterwards.”

“That’s interesting.”

“How?”

“It seems that in some way you remember modern life as it was possibly almost a decade ago. It could explain why you know a phone but not a smartphone. I’m not sure what it means yet, but it could help in figuring out who you are and where you came from.”

“And that’s the big mystery, isn’t it?”

“A mystery we will help you figure out.” Archie gave her small smile and nodded. He let the room fall silent for a moment as he wrote down a few more notes. “How are you feeling about starting school?”

“Henry says it sucks but I don’t really have an opinion on it. I suppose my experience will be determined by my intelligence. I may not even be good enough for Storybrooke High.”

“Well, that’s one way of looking at it. But my impression of you is that you’re clearly intelligent even with so much missing from your life. It may take some time, but you could catch up. Or home school is always an option.”

“No. No, it’s fine. I’ll go whatever they put me. I couldn’t ask Regina to do that. She’s already done enough for me, I’ll be fine.”

* * *

“Oh, god. This sucks.” Ruby groaned. She’d had not even a sniff of alcohol the night before and the throbbing increased tenfold. It was the equivalent of a tequila induced jackhammer going to town right under her left temple.

She didn’t have any explanations for it. Especially, with the tired person staring back at her in the mirror. Her hand hovered over the pain killers knocked over on the counter as she put her toothbrush back in its designated place.

“Good morning.”

Belle intended to just pop in and greet her before getting herself some coffee. Ruby murmured a reply and just as she tilted her chin up to kiss the other woman’s cheek, Belle froze in place at the fatigued expression wearing on her girlfriend’s face.

“Ruby?”

“Yeah.” Ruby popped three pills into her mouth and tucked the bottle back into the medicine cabinet.

“What happened? Did you go out last night?”

“No.” Ruby looked at Belle in confusion and then sighed. She dismissively waved her hand at the mirror reflecting her least favorite self at her. “You mean her. I didn’t go out. But it certainly feels like I got hit by bus last night…and over and over again all day yesterday.”

She turned out the light and left the bathroom sitting down at the foot of the bed. Belle turned to face her and waited for an explanation. One she didn’t think she had.

“Why?”

“I don’t know.” She brought her hand up to the back of her neck. “Just one headache after another.”

“All the time now?”

“Most of the time.”

“It’s safe to assume it is a wolf thing you’re experiencing…” Belle got the look on her face that meant next time Ruby saw her she’d be surrounded by books and drowning in research. “One you’ve never encountered before.”

“Or it’s a bad head cold or something.”

“But you’re not sick. No fever.”

“How do you know?” Ruby questioned with a raised brow. In return, Belle moved until she was standing in front of her looking down into pink tinted eyes, lined with exhaustion. She leaned down and kissed her gently – worried something so small might make her condition worse.

“You’re not sick,” Belle said once they pulled away. “It’s a wolf thing.”

* * *

Ruby forced her index fingers into her temples, hoping to relieve at least a little bit of pressure from her headache. A headache which was superseding the migraine she woke up with. There wasn’t an answer she was willing to put faith in but now that Belle was very aware of the bout of issues plaguing her. She’d no doubt have answers – or more questions – some time soon.

Although until then she’d have to survive the day.

And it didn’t help the bell on the counter was going on and on and on…

“Leroy, lay off it,” Ruby warned. He removed his hand from the bell sensing the sharpness in her tone was to be taken seriously. “What do you want?”

“My usual,” he said, at least having the decency to sound sheepish.

“That’s literally all you had to say.” Ruby snatched the bell from the surface and tossed it into a random spot behind the counter.

She scribbled out Leroy’s order on a ticket and clipped it to put the order in. So far the morning had been a slow trickle of customers and once it was a more reasonable hour, Ruby was going to be very annoyed by the noise. For now she’d appreciate that when the bell over the door rang her reaction was only a small flinch.

Ruby glanced over her shoulder to the door and found it was a friendly face in for morning coffee. She smiled shortly at Regina as she sat down at the counter, checking her watch. Ruby moved back over to the counter in front of her.

“Morning, Mills.”

Regina looked up, a playful retort on her lips, but it fell short seeing the obvious discomfort on the other woman’s face.

“What’s wrong? Is it still your head?” Regina asked.

Ruby went about getting her coffee along with Leroy’s. Anything to do with her hands, kept her mind off the throbbing. “I don’t know what it is," she said. "I’ve had a lot more aspirin than I’m sure anyone is supposed to take in a day.”

“Maybe you need to see a doctor. You said it’s only getting worse.”

“I don’t do doctors. I only ever glanced at a hospital because of Dawn. Otherwise, no.”

“Did Dawn maybe use magic on you that you can remember?” Ruby frowned, sitting Leroy’s coffee in front of him and putting Regina’s right into the woman’s hands. “You only started complaining about your headaches after the first time you met her.”

“I would’ve known.”

“It’s the only thing I can think of that’s been different.”

“Doubtful.” Ruby could agree but Dawn hadn’t done anything to her. Especially, not purposely. “How is Dawn anyway?”

“Adjusting. I think it’s going well.”

Ruby nodded, flinching when a loud ‘order up’ sounded from the window. She closed her eyes for a moment and opened them to Regina frowning sympathetically at her. Then she glared over to the cook manning the kitchen – without Granny’s hovering. Ruby retrieved the hot plate from the window.

“Little quieter next time, Naveen,” Ruby said and it only earned her a confused furrowing of the brows from the man. He didn’t talk much at all so Ruby never said much to him.

“Ruby,” Regina said, standing up from her stool. Her face was consumed with worry.

“What?” Ruby questioned.

“Aw, hell,” Leroy muttered.

She looked down, finding splashes of red on what was supposed to be Leroy’s breakfast. When she reached up toward her nose, her fingers came away stained with a harsh crimson. She sat down the ruined plate.

Regina called for her again, but Ruby turned away, fleeing to the back but not before saying to a startled Naveen, “Remake Leroy’s order.”

“Ruby.” Regina walked around the counter and followed the younger woman.

Ruby pushed through a doorway and Regina came to a stop there with Ruby only a foot in front of her. Granny looked up from inputting numbers to the two women. At Ruby’s glowing eyes and bleeding nose, she slowly stood up as she took her glasses off.

“What did you do this time?” She questioned, already disapproving.

* * *

Granny looked down at Ruby holding a now unsavable dish towel to her nose. Her eyes had stopped glowing gradually and were now only very bloodshot. Her headache had faded only slightly after she’d swallowed the aspirin Regina insisted she take.

The older woman shook her head and began pacing length of the break room. She reluctantly chose to ignore that it was getting busier up front. Obviously, a wolf related problem eclipsed a breakfast rush.

“What have you been doing recently?” Granny asked.

“Working.”

“What else?”

“That’s it. _Working_.” Ruby had a tone that she’d never usually get away with while Granny was present but the older woman gave her a pass. Ruby sighed and thought over her usual routine. “I have lunch with Regina at random places sometimes. I visit Belle at the library.”

“All of that is useless information,” Granny muttered.

“You asked.”

Regina rolled her eyes. “I suggested that maybe Dawn accidentally used magic on her at some point in the times they’d interacted,” she said. Granny nodded and continued to pace.

“Has nothing to do with her,” Ruby said, “We’re okay. We’re…friends…I guess.”

That didn’t sound convincing to Granny but Regina knew Dawn well enough to know what that meant. The young woman was guarded by somewhat paranoid walls she had no recollection of building for herself but she seemed to trust herself and Ruby more than anyone expected.

“Look, I know she wouldn’t hurt me.”

“I understand that and I don’t think she would hurt anyone,” Regina said, “But, Ruby, you have to remember that she has no memories. We’re not even really sure she knows _how_ to use her magic. Like Emma’s magic was before she had any training, Dawn seems to only be able to use it when she feels threatened.”

“I mean other than the magic she was about to blast me with…I saw her eyes turn gold for just a second. I didn’t think anything of it. Could’ve been nothing.”

“No…” Granny said. She stopped pacing and turned to Regina. “Can you ask the child if she saw Ruby change in anyway when they spoke?”

“I showed her part of my wolf,” Ruby said.

Regina pulled out her phone. Texting came almost too natural to Dawn and she preferred it over phone calls. Unfortunately, it cost her fifty dollars she didn’t recall betting with Emma.

“No. Did she see Ruby’s eyes turn gold as well?” Granny squinted, staring hard at Ruby.

Almost immediately after Regina sent the question, Dawn replied. A single word that was quickly followed by a why.

Regina lowered her phone, curious to know what it meant. “She said yes.”

“What does that mean?” Ruby asked.

“I found it!”

Belle burst through the closed door holding a fragile book in her hands. The binding was nearly falling from the spine and the pages were noticeably browning even from afar. It was still spitting dust into the air from being moved around. But it still made a hard thump against the table, letting loose more dust – to Regina’s displeasure.

“Found…?”

“Well, I think I found something. It’s unusual and I’ve never heard about it from either of you.” She gestured between Granny and Ruby. “However, I can only make out a word here and there. This is a form of elvish I’m not very familiar with. I saw head pain and there’s a crude drawing of a wolf with glowing yellow eyes. And there’s…”

The four of them hovered over the aging tome. Granny and Ruby shook their heads and Regina frowned at the obvious problem with Belle’s findings.

“Half the page is missing and…” Regina reached out and turned the page. “The rest of the pages, probably on this passage, are gone.”

“But you can read elvish, right?” Ruby asked. “What does it say?”

“Well, _half the page is missing_. Although, what’s left of the title says ‘Impressioning’.”

“That’s not possible,” Granny said. “You must be reading it wrong.”

“Excuse me?” Regina raised an eyebrow. “I translated it. As asked.”

“It can’t be right.”

Regina and Belle exchanged a look.

Granny refused to say more, beginning to pace again. Ruby finally felt the blood let up and dropped her hand from her nose with a long-winded sigh. “Honestly, I didn’t know it was possible. I thought it was a myth. Granny?”

“Yes. I would love to know what this has to do with Dawn,” Regina said.

“And I’d really like Ruby to not look like the walking dead just from getting up in the morning,” Belle said, folding her arms across her chest. Ruby snorted softly still causing an eruption of pain in her head.

“Imprinting is a very, very rare occurrence. The assumption was that wolves could bond with orphaned pups,” Granny explained, watching brows furrow around the room with curiosity. “But, again, it was rare. Any occurrences that I know of were before my time. However, if any of those tales are to be believed, it was especially rare for alphas to bond with orphaned pups.

“So, surely you ladies can guess just how ill equipped I am to explain how Ruby, an alpha, managed to bond with a _human_ child.”

Regina rubbed her hand across her face with obvious exasperation. Things had finally settled down other than the private investigation she and Emma were conducting to figure out Dawn’s story. Otherwise, it had been okay. Not that she didn’t adore Ruby, but wolf things were the last kind of problem she wanted.

“I only partially understand all of this-” Regina said.

“Welcome to the club. No one knows even a decent amount of information about it,” Granny said, “It is an unexplained phenomenon.”

“It doesn’t have to be explained,” Ruby shrugged. “I don’t need to know why. I just need the headaches and nosebleeds to stop.”

“When was the last time you saw Dawn?” Belle asked.

“It’s been a while.”

“It’s only a theory but perhaps the imprint didn’t finish. Maybe it takes more time to form completely?”

“Can’t say you’re wrong, dear,” Regina said, “Because no one knows anything to say otherwise. Can we keep this quiet for at least the next 48 hours?”

“Why?” Belle frowned.

“Dawn’s first day is tomorrow. She won’t be too productive if she knows that alleviating Ruby’s discomfort is dependent upon her.”

“I agree.” Ruby nodded. “She’ll be worried about it and it’ll be an unnecessary distraction. We can sit down and talk about it later.”

Regina gave her a grateful, relieved smile and placed her hand over her forearm.

* * *

There were a lot more people present than she thought. For whatever small town she’d woke up in, it had far too many teenagers in attendance.

Dawn watched groups of them slowly make their way into the building deep in conversations and laughing at things on their phones. And suddenly the idea of having to be social and be friendly wasn’t as attractive as Henry’s tales on his days at school made it sound. Obviously, Dawn could afford to make a friend or two to keep herself grounded through her predicament.

“Are you nervous?” Regina questioned from the driver’s seat.

“No,” Dawn said, not sounding the least bit convincing to Regina. “No.”

“Are you sure?”

“No.” She disapproved of the waver in her voice. “It’s a lot of people.”

“Well, you only have to make friends with one of them.”

“Have to?”

“You can’t expect to get through high school without at least one friend.”

“I know Henry. Why can’t he be the one?”

“Because you live together.” Regina chuckled. “And you’re older than him-”

“We’re assuming I’m older than him,” Dawn corrected.

“You’re older than him by a year or two. At any rate, you’re starting your junior year in high school because you’re an astonishingly fast learner…” Regina shook her head, remembering how surprised administrators at the school were about Dawn’s scores on her placement test. “But Henry’s circle of friends like aliens and superheroes and…Halo. You’ll find your own circle.”

“Sure,” Dawn murmured.

“We can also, consider home school.”

Dawn sighed. Regina had offered that option quite a few times before now, but Dawn couldn't see how anyone would benefit from it. Regina had a demanding job and she had already been spending unnecessary amounts of time and attention on her. She couldn’t ask that and she wouldn't ask – or accept.

“No. I’ll be fine.”

The bell rung, muted by the car windows. Dawn’s anxiety deepened but she kept her features schooled so Regina didn’t get concerned. She was certain her mysterious past life was full of challenges and willing herself out of the car and into Storybrooke High was a challenge she was going to conquer. Her ‘reset’ life required a new set of goals and Dawn found herself to be the type to find defeat in lack of effort absolutely unacceptable.

She let out a swift exhale and put her hand on the door handle. “I got it,” she said more to herself than Regina. She was so focused on getting out of the car that she missed Regina attempting to mask her slight amusement as Henry would’ve easily accepted putting this off for another day and going back home.

“Henry would be outraged at the thought but would like me to walk you inside?” Regina asked in a weirdly soft tone Dawn noticed she didn’t use very often.

“No, I’m okay.” Dawn opened the door and slowly stood from the car.

“If you’re sure.”

“I’m sure,” Dawn said as she ducked back into the car to grab her nearly weightless bag. She put it over her shoulder and pulled her now wrinkled schedule from her jacket pocket.

Regina gave her a sympathetic smile, confident Dawn would do just fine. “Good luck?”

Dawn nodded, closing the door. She turned towards the school as Regina rolled down the window. “I’m not nervous but…maybe you should drive off now. Or we’ll be here all morning. But I’m not nervous.”

“Okay, dear. You’ll do great.” Regina encouraged, turning the car back on.

She was happy to have the heat blowing on her cold hands again. Dawn nodded in response and Regina, though reluctant, began to pull away slowly. But it seemed to be what the teen needed to start walking towards the front entrance.

Before she got too far away in her rearview she could see Dawn taking her final determined steps to the front doors of the school and disappeared inside.


	5. Chapter 5

Emma walked back into station with a surprisingly hefty amount of tickets from her patrol. Gullible of anyone to think former fairytale characters were innocent enough to actually follow traffic laws – or at the least pause at a stop sign.

She dropped her ticket book on her father’s vacant desk, yawning into her free palm. “Draw straws on who gets to file all these,” she said. Mulan and Phillip looked at each other and frowned at the heavy looking book.

“You wrote them though?” Phillip said.

“The wonderful thing about having deputies is that I don’t have to do all the work anymore.” Emma started to pull off her coat with the idea of savoring her lunch in the peace of her office.

Only recently did she start to actually feel like being a Sheriff was an important thing now that there were people under her other than her father. According to her late night, when she couldn’t get to sleep, Google searching, Sheriff was a big deal in large cities. That would be great if she didn’t have to fight the few deputies she had for stealing her lunch out of the fridge in the breakroom.

Just as she disappeared behind the blinds of her office windows, Phillip and Mulan quickly started a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors. 27 tickets on a four hour patrol was a lot of paperwork.

Emma dropped down into her chair and opened a drawer on the left side of her desk to retrieve what she considered to be an inadequate lunch, sitting on top of some documents she might’ve needed to return to Regina – ages ago.

Chocolate pudding cup, a grainy protein bar, and peanut butter crackers.

“Don’t even have a fucking spoon…” Emma muttered opening the protein bar and biting down on in. She leaned her head back into the neck rest of her chair and looked at the clock. Still another three hours before she could get dinner.

She pulled out her phone as she propped her feet up on her desk, only for a rush of scrambling to consume the silence from the other side of her door. For a moment she chalked it up to Mulan and Phillip arguing over doing the tickets. Until the door to her office opened and _her_ boss strode in, leaving her deputies frantic at being caught arm wrestling.

“Regina.” Emma pulled her feet down and removed the half eaten protein bar from her mouth. “Um, I was just-”

“Very nice,” Regina said, looking at the sad display on her desk. There was a strong chance that Emma wouldn’t really survive life without her. She’d live on ramen and cereal if Regina wasn’t around – and there was proof from whenever Emma was alone over a weekend. “You need to do better when you’re without supervision.”

“I could be eating lard for lunch instead,” Emma said grinning around the remaining bite of her protein bar before flashing the label at her friend. The words ‘protein’ and ‘fiber’ didn’t seem to impress Regina in the slightest.

Regina stepped forward and placed a bag on her desk, sliding it forward closer to Emma. “You can put the pudding away now, Miss Swan.”

Emma raised an eyebrow but didn’t hesitate shoving the pudding and crackers away. She should question it but she smelled fries. “Okay, I’ll play. What do I owe you?” Emma asked, chewing a mouthful of fries as Regina sat down in her usual chair – the one on the left.

“Can’t I just buy you lunch?” Regina questioned with an unconvincing smile.

“Well, yeah. But you normally call me first because you don’t like eating at the station.”

Regina glanced to the large burger Emma was currently unwrapping. She flicked nonexistent dust off her skirt and bit the inside of her cheek. Emma looked up from the food and sat the burger down before she could get a bite of it.

“You didn’t come here to bring me lunch, did you?” Emma asked, leaning back in her chair.

“Yes, I did. Even though I can’t imagine where you put it all…you need to eat, don’t you? So, I brought you lunch.”

“I just got off patrol with the intention of having my pudding and crackers in the quiet of my office because you said you had a meeting. Regina, I like that you were thinking of me but you don’t have to use food as a pretense for what’s actually bothering you.”

Regina almost disliked that Emma knew her so well. It was what she actually considered to be charming and thoughtful, rather than what her parents consider to be the same. She exhaled, pinching the bridge of her nose in frustration. There were Dawn and Emma feelings jumbled around in her head and she hadn’t gathered enough calm of her mind to sit through a long meeting without distraction.

“It’s Dawn, right?” Emma pushed her fries closer to Regina’s side of her desk. Eventually, they would start disappearing during their conversation anyway. There was no point fighting it.

“Yes. I’m worried.”

“About what?”

“Everything. It’s high school and she has amnesia. This could be a bad idea.”

“Keeping her sheltered in the house won’t be much better.” Emma finally took a bite of the burger. It wasn’t from Granny’s but it was too good to go questioning what café has popped up in the last 3 months. Although, she could spare a moment to hide a look of amusement at Regina distractedly eating from the fries she quietly offered.

“But children are…mean.”

“True,” Emma said, “But you can’t spend all day worried about it. She nearly took Ruby out with her own fireball when she first woke up.”

“I would never condone her using magic at school against people. But if someone tried to…” Regina brow furrowed with even more worry. “She volunteered to wear an Enchanted cuff…and she can only use one arm…”

“Stop it.” Emma held up her free hand to interrupt her spiraling thoughts. She didn’t put down what was left of her burger but stood up to take a seat in the right chair in front of her desk. She pushed the fries into Regina’s hands as she sat down, waiting to swallow her last bite before speaking.

“We’re not doing this. You’re not doing this. School is almost over for today. A fight would’ve broken out by now. You would’ve gotten a phone call by now. Just relax. It’s just parenting.”

“Just parenting?”

“Yeah. You’re really good at it. I don’t know how many times I have to tell you that.”

“Get used to it.”

Emma hummed and shrugged. She took another bite as the silence continued. Truthfully, she liked the silence. She couldn’t stay still for the life of her but she could do silence – with Regina at least. It was comfortable and easy, effortless to disappear should the need for conversation arise.

“This is really good. Thank you,” Emma said.

“You’re welcome.”

Regina glanced at her and quickly settled on the smear of mustard on the corner of her mouth. Without a thought, she grabbed a napkin wiped the spot away, causing Emma to slow her chewing. A pink blush crept over her cheeks but the small smile on her face didn’t betray what _Regina_ was definitely feeling in the moment.

She felt there was a possibility attraction flowed both ways between them. However, she was sure just how open minded Emma really was when it came to relationships. Especially, a relationship with someone who was very guilty for a lot of things. But feelings aside Emma was still what she considered to be her best friend.

So, Regina grinned back at her, rolling her eyes with only affection. And Emma returned the smile.

* * *

“Mom, we’re home,” Henry called closing the door once Dawn entered behind him. There was no answer. No footsteps. Henry just shrugged and walked forward into the house. He glanced back at Dawn and said, “She’s probably still at work or something.”

“Important job,” Dawn said, letting her single house key fall into the bowl alongside Henry’s multiple keys.

“Yeah, I guess. But she’s the only one who’s good at it so...” He shrugged again and walked towards the kitchen. “You want something?”

“I’m good. Thanks.”

Dawn disappeared up the stairs and into her room. She dropped her bag on the bed, surprised at how much catch she’d did and how much more she now needed to do. There was homework and slightly confusing – possibly unnecessary – papers Regina had to sign. As she sat down in her desk chair, it only then occurred to her that she hadn’t had a terrible day as she was led to believe.

Henry had warned her away from Regina’s amazingly long range hearing to be careful of people who still thought badly of his mother. No one gave him a hard time without fear of the Sheriff finding out but Dawn maybe wouldn’t have that kind of ominous threat keeping people’s insults to themselves just yet. However, no one had been hostile. And that was a much needed relief.

She pushed a few loose pages aside and positioned a black book in front of herself. The school day had been uneventful in the end. Her teachers didn’t put unnecessary prominence on her being the only new kid ever but only one teacher, Mr. Facilier, had just simply asked about her day. He was dark and brooding, but nice at the same time. It reminded her of Regina. Which made ever other teacher she had quite forgettable.

But then there had been the memory or...something. It was harmless really but it came onto her very abruptly at her second attempt to open her locker. Dawn pulled a pen from the holder and closed her eyes, hand moving across the next blank page of her notebook. Henry was making a noisy sandwich but otherwise the only sounds on the second floor of the Mills residence was a ink pen scratching against textured canvas paper.

Dawn shook her head five minutes later and tossed the pen – now empty – on the desk. She leaned forward over the drawing. It surprised her it came out as well as it did. Unfortunately, she wasn’t sure what, who, it was that was looking up at her from the page. A man etched in deep, blue ink. Troubled, light eyes and a worn, kind smile. He had a thick beard grown wild with age and hard lines about his face and he felt familiar. But it was only a flash, like photo in her mind. No words or movements.

Just a face.

“I don’t remember you," she said.

She didn’t try to decipher the puzzle that the stranger was and closed the notebook. The homework was less likely to give her headache. Her fingers stayed on the edge of the book for a moment longer bed she got up to get her textbooks.

* * *

“Can I have like a small piece…of a piece?” Emma questioned as she stared longingly at the food Regina had cooking on the stove.

“No.”

“Why are you so grumpy?” Emma scoffed. “I just want one roll. One.”

“And I just want you to stop asking, Sheriff,” Regina said.

“Regina? Look at me.” The other woman shook her head. Obviously, they both were aware that if Regina even glanced at Emma, she’d cave into whatever request she had. “Gina?”

“I’m not entertaining you.”

“You know you want to look. But whatever, you’ll turn around eventually.” Emma grinned and Regina could feel her smiling. She had to resist turning around. “What are you making?”

“Ricotta Dumplings,” Regina answered, purposely keeping her back to Emma as she moved around the kitchen.

Emma hummed, sitting her chin in her palm. The dinner rolls were on the cooling rack across from her – likely on purpose. And until Regina succumbed to her puppy eyes so she could have a pre-dinner snack, she needed something to distract her. Or Regina.

“So, you talked to Dawn?” She asked. “How was school?”

“I didn’t talk to her. Only a greeting. She was doing work.” Regina’s shoulders tensed. “I’m giving her space like you said.”

“That’s an improvement. Now we have to learn not to raise hell when she sneaks out to hang out with her friends.”

“I don’t know why I listen to you,” Regina muttered.

“Am I interrupting?” Dawn questioned. Both Emma and Regina turned around.

“Nope. I’m just trying to get a dinner roll off Regina,” Emma said. She patted the seat at the island next to her and Dawn slipped into it. “What’s up? How was school?”

“It was boring mostly.”

“Well, I can’t say I liked a busy day at school. Anybody give you a hard time?”

That question got Regina’s attention and she turned away from the pan in front of her with a burning curiosity. Dawn glanced up at Regina, giving her a grateful smile for her attentiveness. But she shook her head to their relief. Truthfully, that would just mean Henry possibly had been dealing with trouble for similar reasons. Emma didn’t like for Regina to think about the grudges some parents might be holding against her that their kids pick up on. She already worried too much as is.

“Being new didn’t excite anyone. Which is okay. I don’t want the attention,” Dawn said.

“You’ll let us know if someone bothers you?” Regina asked.

“I can handle it.”

“Dawn, just for my peace of mind. Please tell me.”

“Alright.” Dawn pursed her lips but seemed genuine. “I need you to sign these as my guardian.”

Emma slid the pages from under her hand to look at them. She shuffled through them checking the titles of each page but not bothering with the contents. “They look cool. You just need to sign your life away and all.” Emma put them down on the counter and turned them around for her. Dawn held out the pen from behind her ear. Regina grimaced at Emma as she took the pen before her eyes widened.

“Just one, Regina?” Emma asked flashing the puppy eyes at her.

Regina’s mouth fell into a thin line and said, “Fine.” Although she was quickly rewarded with Emma’s megawatt smile as she reached across the counter for a warm piece of bread. The older woman shook her head and she went back to the paper in front of her.

Twelve pages. Four required a guardian signature. She skimmed the wording just to double check that the school wasn’t somehow requesting her signature for rights to her life, or that of any potential first born children, or Dawn’s. There was seemingly no malicious intent, so she signed each page necessary and then held them out to Emma.

“Stop bothering me and go make copies of this,” she said.

“Fine,” Emma mumbled around the bread in her mouth. She took the papers and exited for Regina’s study.

Once she was gone Regina sighed and folded her arms across her chest as she looked at Dawn. It felt like ages since they’d had that small heart to heart about Dawn’s forgotten life. Now they seemed to be skirting around each other for no reason in particular. Dawn appeared to be very comfort with them but not very open or talkative. At least not to Regina. Henry apparently had plenty of conversation with her all the time, so Regina didn’t agonize over it.

“It’s just my luck, I’m surrounded by people who have very irresistible puppy eyes,” Regina said. “I might as well get ahead. Would you like one?”

“I can hold out until dinner but thanks anyway.” Dawn rolled the pen against the marble between her fingers. “Do you need any help?”

“Everything is nearly finished. You could set the table for me.” She grabbed plates down from the cabinet and placed silverware right on top for Dawn to handle with one arm. Dawn took them, brow furrowing at the slight change in weight from the usual when she set the table.

“Five places?”

“Ruby is joining us tonight.”

Dawn nodded and left. She knew that seemed odd. Emma joined them for dinner every chance she got but Ruby hadn’t come to dinner even once since Dawn had been living there. Regina wanted to be discreet about curing Ruby’s sudden ailments. Putting the weight of a werewolves health on the shoulders of an amnesiac teenager would certainly make things more complicated and confusing than they already were.

* * *

The idea to subtly test Ruby and Dawn’s imprint failed miserably. Dawn hadn’t figured out but the difference in them both was obvious the moment Ruby and Dawn were in the dining room together. For one, a positive, Ruby had gotten a nosebleed probably solely from the throbbing in her head on her way over and it stopped almost immediately.

Regina lowered her wine glass as Ruby leaned back in her chair with a relieved sigh. Dawn did have an effect on her that much was clear. However, Dawn hadn’t complained of any unusual pains or headaches. Ruby pulled the formerly white napkin from her nose with a long exhale.

“Sorry,” Ruby murmured. “Excuse me.”

Emma watched everyone at the table sharing her bewilderment with Henry who was vibrating with burning curiosity. Obviously, his mother was up to something. Some kind of experiment with Ruby and possibly Dawn as she didn’t seem so surprised by anything.

“I should probably…” Regina pushed back in her chair and started to get up only to be stop.

“I got it,” Dawn said to everyone’s shock. She stood up from the table and avoided eye contact with Emma and Henry, giving Regina a fleeting glance before she disappeared out of the dining room. She walked through the hallway stopping at the bathroom beyond the kitchen.

Ruby had left the door opened as she wiped a few drops of blood from her shirt. Her eyes weren’t so heavy and bloodshot anymore. Dawn knew something was going on and it was only cemented by Ruby’s every reaction to her presence. She leaned against the door frame, knowing – somehow – Ruby knew she was there already.

“You can’t sneak up on a wolf, kid,” Ruby said, sniffing to get a feel for being able to breath easily again.

“I know. I wasn’t trying to,” Dawn said, “You could’ve just told me. Whatever it is.”

“I-”

“Regina isn’t very good at hiding things.”

“Only you and Emma think so. I can’t even get her to spill on who she’s crushing on.” Ruby chuckled. She kept scrubbing at the stain, only fading slightly.

“What’s going on?”

“I’m not supposed to be putting pressure on you about this.”

“I doubt it’s anymore pressure than the need to remember who tried to kill me and why.”

“Good point.” Ruby sighed. She leaned her hip into the counter and folded her arms over her chest. “I don’t know how it works but I seemed to have imprinted on you when we first met. And now…I don’t know…I need to be around you or something or my head might explode. I don’t know.”

“Explode?” Dawn raised an eyebrow.

“Feels like it. I hadn’t seen you in a while and it got really bad.” Ruby shrugged more out of lack of knowledge than her previous frustrations with such uncertainty. “The best explanation I have is that my wolf adopted you as my wolf pup. _Human_ wolf pup.”

“Okay. That’s not nearly as bad as almost dying and not remembering it.”

“I just don’t have an explanation for you, Dawn. This is all new to me.”

“I don’t need an explanation,” Dawn said, “I trust you. I trust you…and Regina with my life. Is that okay?”

“Of course, it is,” Ruby said, “It’s just this wolf stuff can get weird. I don’t know what the imprinting did to you.”

“But you’re _my_ wolf? _My_ guardian?” Ruby nodded almost sheepishly but Dawn offered her a small smile and a hand. Ruby took her hand feeling a warm, comforting relief roll over her entire form. Her inner wolf wasn’t so restless as it was. “I don’t think we have anything to worry about.”

“Okay.” Ruby nodded with a grin, bordering on a smirk. “Okay, Wolf Pup.”

**Author's Note:**

> I've been sitting on this for almost a year, and have wanted to share it for some time. But as some writers may feel, I was worried there wouldn't be much of an audience after the show ended. In that time I've also realized that there wouldn't be a point in writing it and not considering sharing it, so here we are.
> 
> This is both a new and old story of mine. Anyone who's been around my works since 2015 is familiar with Dawn's character. So, this would be a rewrite of 'The Hatter.'
> 
> My beta, Withgirl, and I have been excited about planning this. I'm proud of where this is going and hope you all will enjoy it.


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